The apparently simple task of remembering the proper times for taking pills or other medication prescribed by a physician can in fact be a very troublesome problem for many patients. For example, if the patient is receiving the medication only on a temporary basis, no habit or pattern of taking pills will have been established, and involvement in other daily activities can easily lead to forgotten or skipped dosages. Even in the case of drug therapy for chronic conditions, problems are encountered if, for example, the patient is on more than one kind of medication, or if the patient is aged. In the case of a number of pills to be taken at different times, there is the additional problem of remembering which pill to take at a given interval, in addition to the basic problem of remembering the intervals themselves. In the case of aged patients, forgetfulness over the proper interval, and perhaps confusion over which of several drugs prescribed for the patient frequently occurs. It is quite common for aged patients to be on a number of different medications for different conditions, and taking the wrong one at the wrong time can lead to unintentional overdose or other dangerous situations.
Various techniques have been used in the past in attempts to deal with this problem, including numbering or color coding of pill boxes, and the use of alarm clocks or other timers as reminders for pill taking. However, despite the many efforts in the prior art, the problem of taking the correct medication at the correct interval has persisted.